The Charmed Life of Bangladesh Nationalist Party

Ziauddin Choudhury

No one imagined a new political party riding in the coattails of a military dictator would survive after his
death because the essence of such new parties is the power behind it. It may not be an over
exaggeration, but Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP- was a single handed venture of the Party’s founder
and ideologue- General Ziaur Rahman. He himself was a political neophyte thrown into the vortex of
national politics after the bloody upheaval of August 1975 when the country’s founder was killed by
some members of his own Army. Gen Zia was the eventual beneficiary of the coup even though it may
or may not have happened with his tacit knowledge. But this is a fact, had there been no August
upheaval Ziaur Rahman could very well have been like many other army generals of his time, retired,
unseen and unsung.

When Ziaur Rahman came into power he had acquired an Army badly mauled by bloody coups from
August through November. It would take more than two years since then for Zia to turn into active
politics. He started his foray into politics tentatively, first with sending feelers to the politicians and
political parties in existence that time including the former ruling party stalwarts. He would at the same
time test his own popularity with his now infamous referendum in 1977.

Once Zia secured his place as President he launched his politics, directly aiding the formation of Jatiya
Ganatantrik Dal (Jagodol), a political group of likeminded politicians drawn from a wide array of old
political parties in February 1977. He would soon follow this with the formation of Bangladesh
Jatiyatabadi Front, a grand coalition of political parties with Jagodol leading the pack to assist his
Presidential election campaign in May that year. Zia would later dismantle this new coalition and form
his own Bangladesh Nationalist Party in September that year the core leadership of which came from
Jagodol.

Since its formation, Zia guided BNP in every step, from drafting party constitution to organization
structure to establishment of its leadership. He was the party’s founder, dreamer, visionary and chief
executive. He used his charisma and popularity to attract politicians from both ends of the spectrum,
from extreme left to extreme right, without caring for their past politics or conduct in the liberation war.
He became a darling to the forces who were unable to rejoin politics of the country.

The ground fell off from under the party’s feet after Zia’s tragic assassination in May 1981. The party
would almost have succumbed to infighting and ceased to exist as a political force but for the mass
upheaval against Ershad and combined opposition to his regime. Again the juxtaposition of disparate
forces that had once supported General Zia would coalesce behind his widow and adopt her as their
new leader. Khalida Zia has held on to the party stewardship since then without any interruption.

The sole reason why BNP loyalists gave her the stewardship was absence of any credible leadership in
the rest of party organization. In last twenty five years or so there has not been any evidence that the
leadership would change any time soon. This is not because there is really a dearth of leadership in the
party. It is because the party has been accustomed to a management style that is derived from the time
when it was founded by General Ziaur Rahman.

A party that was foisted from above instead of growing from below can only be sustained by a
leadership that glows in the reflection of its founder, which is provided by Khalida Zia or her son. But
given the likelihood that none of these two would have a free hand in the politics of the country anytime
soon, the road for BNP ahead seems to be thorny. Because without Khalida Zia or her son at the helm
the party is likely to fall apart. That seems to be the operative strategy of BNP’s opposition.